John b



@niiet gtatrs strnt @ffice JOHN; B. HANNIMANN, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

Letters Pate-nt No. 69,661, dated October 8, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN WATER-GLOSETS.

TO ALL WHOM I'I MAY CONCER'N:

Bc it known that I, JOHN B. HANNIMANN, of Detroit, in the county of Wayne, and in the Stato of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Water-Closets; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact'description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part ofthis specification, in which drawing- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the seat of a water-closet, the outer casing'being removed to show the system of levers by which the cover is raised.

Figure 2 is a like' elevation, the cover being open. r

The object of my invention is to cause the cover of a water-closet seat totopen and close automatically, the arrangement being such that thel approach of any person about to use the apparatus effects the throwing up of the cover, and his departure effects its closing again. The weight of the occupant also causes the cover to bc held back, so'that it will not bear against him.

The letter a designates the box which contains the basin and other parts of a water-closet, the upper part of said'box being closed by the seat C, which has the usual opening therein. The seat c is so secured at. its

'rearito the box a as .to be capable of a slight vertical movement at its front edge, where it is seen to rest on a vertcalbavr, m, which slides up and down. behind the guide n, said bar m restingupon levers' and operating' to keepfthe cover pen, as hereinafter explained. The seat e is in' this example looselyT bolted to the top of the Abdx, but itvmay, if preferred, be hinged. The cover b is pivoted at o, on both its sides, to standards (nothere seenwhich rise-frbm the seat c. From the sides of the cover, behind the pivots o, extend arms e, only one of which is seen in the drawing, that have vertical extensions, which work through slotsp made in the seat c. To said vertical extensions are hinged th-e rear ends of connecting-rods f, whose other ends are hinged to the top of vibrating elbow-levers g, that are pivoted at h to the sides of the box. .lThe lower shorter ends of levegs g are designated by the letter Z, and they are weighted so as to be able to close the cover b, as hereinafter explained. The letter t' designates horizontally-arranged levers pivoted a'tj to the sides of box a, near its bottom,and connected to the part l oflever g by a. sliding joint, which is in this example formed by two pins that hold aninner plate to the part Ai! of lever g, as indicated by dotted lines. The rear end of lever z moves in the space formed between the 'pins and between said inner plate and the side of said part Z, and lever g is allowed to move to and `fro on lever i in its vibrations on pivot h.l The forward ends of levers t' are hinged to the rear edge of platform lc, whose forward edge is allowed to rest on the door at g. The system of levers seen inthe drawing on that side of thebox which is represented, is repeated on the other side, but, if preferred, said'levers may be arranged at one side only.

The operationvof the apparatus is as follows, observing tig. 1, where the cover Z1 is shown'closed, as it is intended to be vwhile the water-closet is not in actual use: The weight of a person upon the platform K causes the horizontal levers i to vibrate on their fulcra j, so as thereby to throw the upper` end of lever g in a forward direction, said rlever g drawing with it the connecting-mdf, which, through itsjointed attachment to the cover b, causes the said cover to be turned upward off the seat c, its movement being limited by the stop d, arranged on the back part of the seat. The platform 7c lies free on the oor, resting thereon along the front edge q and forming a. lever. Said edge is consequently the fulcrum of the leverage of the platform. When it is desired to reach the top of the cover to clean or dust it oft', the platform c is turned np and. allowed to lean'against the front of the box, so that a servant can approach andeach the cover without throwing it up by stepping on said platform. So long as the weight of any person remains on the platform k the cover b remains in thc lposition shown in g. 2; but when 'such person moves off the platform the weighted end Z of lever g brings that lever to the position shown in iig. 1, and closes the cover bi In order to preveit injury to the cover or the seat in closing the cover their adjacent surfaces may have small rubber or other cushions, which will, by their elasticity, prevent injury as well as noise. Fig. 2 represents seat c close down Vupon the box a as it appears when brought down by the weightot` an occupant, the vertical bar m being thereby pressed down upon the shorter end of lever 2, so asfto canse the occupant to hold up the cover b after his weight has been by sitting d'own partially removed from the platform.

What IV claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

I'he arrangement and combination with the iev-ery' of the seat c and sliding bar m, substantially as described.

l J. B. HANNIMANN.

Witnesses:

T. R Benen, W. P. BENorr. 

